At first listen, those who pick up one local band’s recently released album may mistake the group for the Clash or some other music from that time.

Chris McKay & the Critical Darlings sounds more like an old punk group from the ’70s or ’80s than a local hard rock band.

But the band just released “C’mon Accept Your Joy!” this year.

The sound quality does not sound like it was produced as something from a major label, but the lower quality is not distracting.

The group has a garage band sound, so it works.

However, the vocal quality and lyrics are more mature than something a garage band may produce.

The voices from drummer Tom Bavis and lead vocalist/guitarist Chris McKay produce harmonies at times and can be heard over the loud guitars and drums – something some bands forget to do.

As for the lyrics, “Sometimes I’m Sam” is about a guy who has regrets and wishes he was never born.

In “Phony,” the band sings: “Everyday is the same (…) I’ve been stuck in the same progression.”

But McKay, who wrote the lyrics, does not seem like he is going through this at the moment.

Even though the chorus and some song lyrics are often repeated, most of the songs have their own identity.

In “Down,” the band changes the rough sound up a bit for the first couple of minutes.

The song definitely has an identity crisis – it starts off with quiet instrumentation and vocals, then a little more than halfway through the song, the guitars unexpectedly become louder with screaming vocals.

Near the end, the song begins to slow down again, and the music and vocals suddenly slow back down again to imitate the beginning.

Even though a lot of the songs sound different from one another, they all fit together with the vintage sound.